The Summer Part Two: Foundations Shaped
by White Rose Keeper
Summary: SEQUEL TO THE SUMMER: CHANGES MADE. Oh no! Ron is trying to propose but has a lack of ideas? Hermione may not say yes could it be cold feet? Harry and Ginny STILL not together? Will they ever be? Read on my friends :] major: RHR, HG, minor: RemusTonks
1. A Romantic Predicament

Chapter One- A Romantic Predicament

* * *

"Hermione, will you marry me?"

There was a long stretch of silence then a simple reply of, "No."

Ron Weasley, who was kneeling, fell backwards and groaned in frustration. "What was wrong with that one?" He asked irritably.

On the edge of Ron's bed sat Harry, who shrugged his shoulders and timidly responded, "Well," he let out an annoyed breath and looked up. "Well, you can't really call _that _proposing..."

Ron looked up at Harry with wide, disbelieving eyes, "What the hell would you call it then, t_wenty questions_?!"

Behind Harry, stood Ginny, who had her back towards both of them as she rummaged through Ron's junk on top his dresser. She resisted the urge to laugh at yet another argument the two men started since they had begun the planning on Ron's engagement issues.

Harry shrugged again and tried placing his thoughts into words. "It's not that the question itself wasn't a wedding proposal; obviously, it was. It's just that it was so- so... _plain._ It wasn't romantic or at all interesting. D'you know what I mean? I mean, honestly, if I were a woman, I don't think I would say yes right away; I'd have to consider the possibility that if I'd say yes, it could very well entail that I would spend the rest of my life in boredom with a pathetically, dreary man..."

There was silence and after a moment Ron raised his head up from the floor and stared blankly at Harry for a while, making him a little uneasy and squirmy. Ron blinked a few times, "...All because you didn't like how it was asked?" Harry smiled slightly and nodded slowly, almost nervously, in response. Ron laid his head back down on the floor and bluntly said, "Harry, you're a git."

Ginny chuckled and plopped herself down next to Harry, making their bare arms touch and once again making their breath hitch and get a sudden light headed feeling. It happened all the time and the trouble was that neither did anything about it. Ginny blinked a few times to focus again then as she moved a little away from Harry said, "Well, don't entirely scoff at Harry's statement because it's slightly true..."

Ron looked up at his sister incredulously, "What?"

Ginny giggled, "Not exactly the boring life and equally pathetic man part, but the blunt proposal, yes. Women like romance, whether they admit it or not. And Hermione... she likes romance."

Harry looked over at Ginny in surprise, "Really?"

"Yeah... she does," Ron answered abruptly and the attention shifted to Ron. He rolled his eyes slightly, "Yes, Ginny, I know she likes romance, and if I knew any better from the seven years we were actually intimate, I also know that she tells you everything..."

Ginny bit her lip in an attempt to stop grinning, "Yeah, like that one time when you took her to her favorite restaurant and had her favorite flowers all around the table and even made the ceiling enchanted to a clear, starry night... or that other time when you made a picnic and got her favorite singer to serenade you two as you talked and ate... or even that other time when you flew your broom with a smoke spell and wrote that you loved her in the sky..." Ginny was grinning now and was about to go on until Harry interrupted.

"Ron!" Harry looked as if his world had turned upside down. "I never knew- I never thought..." Harry shook his head and looked down then looked up again. His voice shook with restraint from amusement, "You're actually a tender, loving, sentimental man..." Ron narrowed his eyes and Harry broke into peals of laughter. "I... can't... wait... to ... tell... your ... brothers," Harry said as he laughed. Before Ginny could stop him and before Harry knew what was happening, Ron tackled him and both toppled over the bed.

Ginny sighed as they both wrestled on the floor, "Harry, in case you didn't notice, all the Weasley men have that sentimental and tender side." When hearing those words, Ron stopped for a moment and snarled dangerously up at Ginny, giving Harry a chance to get a better position and tackle Ron again. "Well it's true! Look at Bill! Once he realized that Fleur liked him, he literally swept her off her feet and took her for a ride on a baby dragon! Fleur instantly fell in love with him, and she doesn't even like dragons. Honestly, would you two please stop!"

They both stopped but still in their last stance both on the floor with Harry, hands choking Ron's neck, while Ron was pulling Harry's hair to try and get Harry away. They let go and lay on the ground, breathless from their grappling until Harry said, "I must admit, I'm a bit jealous... I don't think I have an ounce of romanticism in me... growing up in an unfeeling household does that to you."

"Harry, you're not unfeeling," Ron said, rubbing his eyes.

Ginny looked down at Harry and caught his eye, "I bet you could be romantic... you just probably never had a chance to try."

They looked at each other for a little longer until Ron shouted, "AGH! Sod it all!" Ginny blinked and forced herself to look at Ron and Harry did the same thing.

"Wha-?" Harry was about to ask then Ron sat up.

"What the bloody hell am I going to do? I did everything! I'm out of ideas! Drained! Empty! Cleared out! What happens to a bloke then, eh?" During this exclamation, Ron had somehow managed to stand up and looked at Ginny and Harry with a somewhat crazy and fanatical look.

"What do you mean, Ron?" Harry asked, scooting a bit away from where Ron stood since he seemed a tad off balance.

"I mean that I've used up every little thing that is the slightest bit romantic!" Ron said, now pacing back and forth.

"Oh, Ron, I doubt that..." Ginny said, but ended up receiving a menacing glare from Ron.

"Trust me, Gin... I did. Just think about all the things Hermione has ever told you about..." He continued to pace as Ginny thought.

Harry sat cross-legged and watched Ginny think. Soon Ginny looked up at Ron with the most astounded expression Harry's ever seen. Ginny said softly to Ron, "My, God... you have."

Harry and Ginny looked over at Ron, now sitting with his head in his hands.

Harry soon broke the silence with, "Bugger."


	2. Interrogation and Resolution

"Noooooooooooo!"

"What'd you say, Ron?" Hermione poked her head out of her bathroom door just as Ron collected himself from his quiet yell of distress.

Ron turned around and forced a smile that unintentionally contorted his face, making him look like a dried peach, "Er, nothing, love." Hermione narrowed her eyes and Ron could sense an interrogation coming. He quickly added, "Go, er, brush your teeth or… _you'll be late_."

Hermione frowned but when she checked the time (twenty minutes to eight, three minutes behind her usual morning schedule), her eyes widened slightly and she hastily retreated back to the bathroom. Despite Ron's emotions being a whirl from the news he just heard, Hermione's unwavering punctuality made him smile.

_You twit! You do realize she ruined _all_ of your plans in a matter of seconds! You are not happy with her regardless of her adorable eccentricities!_ Ron closed his eyes in anguish. _Merlin, she's leaving. Leaving on that exact day… _He let out a low moan of despair and fell backwards onto Hermione's bed.

While Hermione ran around the room trying to collect her paperwork and clothes, Ron merely stared at the ceiling, feeling sorry for himself. Hermione was too busy aiming organizing charms to notice the ill look on Ron's face until she had to retrieve her scarf which he lay atop of.

"Dear God, Ron! Are you all right?" She instinctively checked his temperature. "Wait, what am I checking your temperature for? Honestly, I'm becoming your mother; too much time with the Weasley clan…" Ron's eyes closed again, this time for the disturbing thought of Hermione becoming his mum, but the though was fleeting- Hermione's interrogation finally began.

Hermione arched a brow, "Well, what's all this about then?"

Ron tried to look as dignified as possible and replied, "I cannot possibly fathom what you mean by that question at all." The blank but dangerous stare he received made him rethink his response. "I'm just… tired; haven't been getting much sleep lately because of the absolute chaos at work, it being Quidditch season and all." Sympathy was beginning to appear in Hermione's face and Ron continued, "And the news about you leaving Saturday doesn't really cheer me up, does it?"

"Oh, Ron, it's only a week… I would have thought you'd be used to my trips!" said Hermione a little harshly. She lightly moved Ron's fringe from his forehead, "…But I am sorry for your lack of sleep."

Ron smiled softly, "Yes, poor me." He took one of her hands and kissed it. He sighed, "You need to go… you really will be late. Don't give me that look, I'll be fine. They gave me a late start today; I might be able to get a little more sleep." Hermione shook her head a little but got up to get her briefcase from her nightstand.

She came back and kissed him. "You _better_ get some more rest, Mr. Weasley." Hermione lifted her wand and was about to apparate when she suddenly spun around, and Ron's sigh of relief turned into a coughing sputter from choking on his own breath.

"You came over to tell me something, what was it?"

_Oh, shite…_ "Later! Go!" He pointed at her clock, ten to eight.

Hermione left in a huff, "Fine!" _Pop!_

He stared a little longer at the place Hermione's body once was, then, when the coast was clear, got up and threw a tantrum. He stomped his feet and shouted curse words, and after five minutes of this, he had to admit he was surprised the neighbors didn't hear him. He sat back down on the bed and lowered his head to his hands- partly from exhaustion, but mostly because of his anguish.

He reached over to the nightstand and picked up his wand. Conjuring a list, he vindictively zapped off _Saturday morning- proposal _and nearly burned the list up entirely, but he was able to restrain himself.

"Honestly, you're being way too dramatic. Why don't you propose before? Or even after? It won't make much difference," said a voice coming from the mirror. Ron looked at his reflection from the corner of his eye and replied quietly, "It's not that simple." His reflection responded with an incredulous snort but said nothing else.

Ron looked around Hermione's room, which twenty minutes ago looked like a hippogriff did a wild dance around in it, and now appeared brilliantly clean. Ron frowned at the doubts now arising in his mind. _It can't honestly last between us. We never survived a day without having at least one riff. Think of the children! They'd be so confused by our relationship- they'd probably be in constant fear of us killing each other._ That thought prompted a grin when he remembered one time when he and Hermione were arguing heatedly about the existence of something from the _Quibbler_ while trying to make Christmas dinner. The knife Hermione charmed to cut carrots sliced up Ron's shirtsleeve, and Ron's soufflé went up in flames- making Hermione's dress catch on fire. It was the most hilarious event he had ever experienced.

Ron's grin faded a little, and he reached into his pocket and took out a sparkling diamond ring. Every glitter of the ring seemed to bring a happy memory along with it- a stroll through a park, a night of cuddling on a sofa, some laughing moment. And as Ron sat there, staring at the gold band and the intricate design of the gleaming stone, all the planning he did seemed trivial.

A proposal wasn't meant to be gaudy or magnificent- it was simply a promise; the preface of the actual wedding bond, nothing more and nothing less.

And Ron Weasley realized in that moment that he wanted to marry Hermione Granger. No, he _really_ wanted to marry her. _Who cares about being romantic? Hermione doesn't. She even said she had enough romantic stories to fill a ten by ten cauldron! I love her and, dammit, I didn't spend the last twelve years of my life with her to not be with her for the next eighty! She deserves the security of knowing I'll be with her forever…_

Ron jumped up and shouted with a strong voice filled with purpose, "I'll go right now!" He quickly lifted his wand and disapparated, and he could have sworn he heard a whoop come from the mirror.


End file.
